Battle of Eylau

Battle of Eylau
Part of the War of the Fourth Coalition

Napoléon on the Battlefield of Eylau by Antoine-Jean Gros
Date7–8 February 1807[1]
Location
Preussisch Eylau, East Prussia[a]
54°24′N 20°38′E / 54.400°N 20.633°E / 54.400; 20.633
Result See in the Aftermath section
Belligerents
 French Empire  Russian Empire
 Kingdom of Prussia
Commanders and leaders
First French Empire Napoleon Bonaparte
First French Empire Charles-Pierre Augereau (WIA)
First French Empire Louis-Alexandre Berthier
First French Empire Jean-Baptiste Bessières
First French Empire Louis-Nicolas Davout
First French Empire Joachim Murat
First French Empire Michel Ney
First French Empire Jean-de-Dieu Soult		 Russian Empire Levin August von Bennigsen
Russian Empire Barclay de Tolly (WIA)
Russian Empire Pyotr Bagration
Kingdom of Prussia Anton Wilhelm von L'Estocq
Units involved
  • 2nd Division
  • 3rd Division
  • 4th Division
  • 5th Division
  • 6th Division
  • 7th Division
  • 8th Division
  • 14th Division
  • East Prussian Corps
    • Strength
    75,000:[2][1]
    Napoleon: 45,000
    Ney: 14,500
    Davout: 15,000
    300 guns    		 76,000-83,000:[2][1]
    Russia Bennigsen: 67,000
    Kingdom of Prussia L'Estocq: 9,000
    400 guns
    Casualties and losses
    15,000–29,643[1][b] 15,000[10][11]–26,000[12][4][1]


    War of the Fourth Coalition
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    200km
    125miles
    Friedland
    27
    Battle of Friedland on 14 June 1807
    26
    Battle of Heilsberg on 10 June 1807
    25
    Battle of Guttstadt-Deppen from 5 to 6 June 1807
    24
    Great Sortie of Stralsund from 1 to 3 April 1807
    23
    Siege of Danzig (1807) from 19 March to 24 May 1807
    22
    Siege of Kolberg (1807) from 20 March to 2 July 1807
    21
    Battle of Ostrołęka (1807) on 16 February 1807
    Eylau
    20
    19
    Battle of Allenstein on 3 February 1807
    18
    Battle of Mohrungen on 25 January 1807
    17
    Siege of Graudenz from 22 January to 11 December 1807
    16
    Battle of Pułtusk (1806) on 26 December 1806
    15
    Battle of Golymin on 26 December 1806
    14
    Battle of Czarnowo on 23 December 1806
    13
    Siege of Hamelin from 7 to 22 November 1806
    12
    Battle of Lübeck on 6 November 1806
    11
    Battle of Waren-Nossentin on 1 November 1806
    10
    Capitulation of Stettin from 29 to 30 October 1806
    9
    Capitulation of Pasewalk on 29 October 1806
    8
    Battle of Prenzlau on 28 October 1806
    Berlin
    7
    Fall of Berlin (1806) on 27 October 1806
    6
    Siege of Magdeburg (1806) from 25 October to 8 November 1806
    5
    Battle of Halle on 17 October 1806
    4
    Capitulation of Erfurt on 16 October 1806
    Jena–Auerstedt
    3
    Battle of Jena–Auerstedt on 14 October 1806
    2
    Battle of Saalfeld on 10 October 1806
    1
    Battle of Schleiz on 9 October 1806
    ⬤ current battle
    ⬤ Napoleon not in command
    ⬤ Napoleon in command

    The Battle of Eylau, or Battle of Preussisch-Eylau, was a bloody and strategically inconclusive battle on 7 and 8 February 1807 between Napoleon's Grande Armée and the Imperial Russian Army under the command of General Levin August von Bennigsen near the town of Preussisch Eylau in East Prussia.[13] Late in the battle, the Russians received timely reinforcements from a Prussian division of von L'Estocq. After 1945, the town was renamed Bagrationovsk as part of Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia. The engagement was fought during the War of the Fourth Coalition, part of the Napoleonic Wars.

    Napoleon's armies had smashed the army of the Austrian Empire in the Ulm Campaign and the combined Austrian and Russian armies at the Battle of Austerlitz on 2 December 1805. On 14 October 1806, Napoleon crushed the armies of the Kingdom of Prussia at the Battle of Jena–Auerstedt and hunted down the scattered Prussians at Prenzlau, Lübeck, Erfurt, Pasewalk, Stettin, Magdeburg and Hamelin.

    In late January, Bennigsen's Russian army went on the offensive in East Prussia, pushing far to the west. Napoleon reacted by mounting a counteroffensive to the north, hoping to prevent their retreat to the east. After his Cossacks had captured a copy of Napoleon's orders, Bennigsen rapidly withdrew to the northeast to avoid being cut off. The French pursued for several days and found the Russians drawn up for battle at Eylau.

    In a vicious evening clash, the French captured the village, with heavy losses on both sides. The following day brought even more serious fighting. Early in the battle, a frontal attack by Napoleon failed, with catastrophic losses. To reverse the situation, he launched a massed cavalry charge against the Russians. That bought enough time for the French right wing to throw its weight into the contest. The Russian left wing was soon bent back at an acute angle, and Bennigsen's army was in danger of collapse. A Prussian corps belatedly arrived and saved the day by pushing back the French right. As darkness fell, a French corps tardily appeared on the French left. That night, Bennigsen decided to retreat, leaving Napoleon in possession of a snowy battlefield covered with thousands of dead and wounded.

    Eylau was the first serious check to the Grande Armée, and the myth of Napoleon's invincibility was badly shaken.[14] The French went on to decisively defeat Bennigsen's army at the Battle of Friedland, four months later.

    1. ^ a b c d e Bodart 1908, p. 380.
    2. ^ a b Chandler 1966, p. 536.
    3. ^ Chandler 1966, p. 548.
    4. ^ a b Franceschi & Weider 2007, p. 118.
    5. ^ Connelly 2005, p. 137.
    6. ^ Murphy 2014.
    7. ^ Petre 2001, p. 205.
    8. ^ Dwyer 2013.
    9. ^ Schulz 1983, p. 99.
    10. ^ Chandler 2009, p. 1119.
    11. ^ Petre 2001, p. XI.
    12. ^ Asprey 2008, p. 58.
    13. ^ Haythornthwaite 1996, Chapter 3.
    14. ^ Chandler 1966, p. xxxiii.


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